The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative concluded its one-year Section 301 investigation into the digital services tax policies of Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey and U.K. by imposing and immediately suspending remedial tariffs against those countries, said the agency Wednesday. Putting the tariffs on hold for up to 180 days will give more time to complete the ongoing multilateral negotiations on international taxation at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and through the G20 process, it said. The U.S. “remains committed to reaching a consensus on international tax issues through the OECD and G20 processes,” said USTR Katherine Tai. “Today’s actions provide time for those negotiations to continue to make progress while maintaining the option of imposing tariffs under Section 301 if warranted in the future.” DSTs "undercut significant activity in multilateral negotiations and further fragment the international tax system,” said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman. ITI encourages all governments to "quickly withdraw" DSTs "and double down on their work to realize a multilateral, consensus-based agreement" through the OECD and G20, he said. The Computer & Communications Industry Association “welcomes USTR’s actions in the Section 301 investigations that show the continued commitment of the U.S. to the ongoing negotiations, while making clear that tariffs remain an option if discriminatory taxes continue,” said Policy Counsel Rachael Stelly.

Comments are due June 17 for NTIA’s software bill of materials minimum elements (see 2105280039), says Wednesday's Federal Register.

Roku locked up pay-one window streaming rights to movies from Saban Films for the ad-supported Roku Channel, it said Thursday. It’s the platform’s first pay-one licensing agreement. Upcoming titles include Echo Boomers, Happily, Percy vs. Goliath and Under the Stadium Lights.

The International Trade Commission ordered a Section 337 investigation into allegations in an AliveCor April 20 complaint that the electrocardiogram functions in three series of the Apple Watch infringe three AliveCor patents on arrhythmia tracking, says Wednesday’s Federal Register. The complaint seeks a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order on Apple Watch imports. Apple didn’t comment Tuesday.

Google joined the 8K Association,” said the group Monday. Harmonic also is among other new members. The Samsung-originated 8KA added Allion Labs and Telecommunications Technology Associates as interoperability test labs, it said.

Cyberattacks such as SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline shouldn't become a norm, said European Member of Parliament Eva Maydell, of the European People's Party Group and Bulgaria, Wednesday at a webcast on the European Commission's proposed network and information security directive update (NIS2). Maydell, who's writing the legislative response to the proposal for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee, said Europe needs a clear, robust defense and high cyber-resilience. Cybersecurity requires trans-Atlantic cooperation, she said. Asked what common ground could be explored, Cisco Head-EU Public Policy Chris Gow listed use of internationally recognized standards; investment funding for governments and industry; better cyber skills for employees; and to "go after the bad guys." If cybercrime losses were an economy, they would be No. 3, Gow said. Major incidents made people fully aware of what's at stake, said Jakub Boratynski, head of unit-cybersecurity and digital privacy policy, EC Directorate-General, communications networks, content and technology. EU cybersecurity strategy began slowly when the original NIS became effective in 2013 and it needs improvement, he said. There's a "mismatch" between the regulatory framework at the EU level and what happens on the ground, said European Network and Information Security Executive Director Juhan Lepassaar: NIS2 is an effort to catch up, and it must also capture the future. The proposal is "evolution, not revolution," Gow said: NIS2 could help create more harmonization, and a more consistent overall approach is needed.

Samsung Display sees a future in connectivity devices based on foldable, rollable, slidable and stretchable displays, said CEO Choi Joo-sun in a prerecorded keynote streamed Tuesday during the virtual Display Week 2021. “Many people have been looking forward to the mobility revolution,” dominated by blurrier lines of product-category demarcation, he said. This requires new materials and backplanes, said Choi. In larger screens, “minimizing dead space is key,” he said. He unveiled demonstration samples including a three-way-foldable display that “can be either a smartphone or tablet,” he said. He showed a large-screen tablet that unfolds to become a widescreen portable desktop monitor. Samsung Display is developing “under-panel camera” technology, said Choi. It’s for high-quality front-facing cameras that won’t interfere with a “wide and clear front screen,” he said. “It is by no means an easy technology.”

Facebook should stop “intimidating WhatsApp users to accept extended data collection,” 28 advocacy groups wrote the company Friday. Led by Public Citizen, they claim the platform is manipulating users into accepting weakened privacy policies, which were to have taken effect Saturday (see 2105030058). Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, Access Now and Center for Digital Democracy signed. The intended business model “relies on extended data integration between WhatsApp and Facebook to benefit its own bottom line at the expense of user privacy,” they wrote. Facebook didn't comment.

Google is “disappointed that Sonos has made false claims about our partnership and technology,” said a Google spokesperson Thursday. Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus told a quarterly call Wednesday that a German court granted Sonos a preliminary patent injunction. The patent enables and controls transfer of media from a smartphone or tablet to playback devices, said Lazarus, a former FCC official. Google appealed, said the spokesperson. “We will continue to work to ensure that our German customers continue to have the best experience.” The order prohibits selling Google's Cast technology in Germany, “some aspects of which implicate the Sonos patent at issue, and encompasses such products as the Pixel 4a smartphone, Nest Audio speakers and the YouTube Music app," Lazarus said. Thursday, he told us it's a “promising milestone in our ongoing effort to defend our innovations and stand up to the unfair practices of Big Tech." Sonos closed up 7.4% at $33.83.

Voice of San Diego settled with the FCC, FAA and Department of Transportation in its Freedom of Information Act legal fight, said a notice (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-00990) issued this week in U.S. District Court in San Diego. The nonprofit media outlet sued last May over not getting records for a defense contractor's proposed drone test flight over San Diego. The FCC had said its Office of Engineering and Technology gave VOSD a link to the agency experimental licensing system where it could retrieve responsive applications, while FAA said it hadn't finished processing the FOIA request.